The Sacred Beetle and Others 



sively stiffened legs, he digs into your flesh; 

 he slips like an irresistible wedge into the 

 spaces between your fingers. It is more than 

 you can bear; and you have to let the creature 

 go. 



In the household he performs the function 

 of an hydraulic press. We subject our packs 

 of fodder to the action of the press in order 

 to reduce their cumbrous bulk; he likewise 

 compresses and reduces the stringy materials 

 of his sausage. It is most often the male 

 that I find at the top of the cylinder, a top 

 excavated to form a deep basket. This 

 basket receives the load brought down by the 

 mother; and, like the labourer trampling on 

 the grapes at the bottom of the vintage-tub, 

 the Geotrupes presses and amalgamates his 

 materials with the convulsive effort of his gal- 

 vanic movements. The operation is so well 

 conducted that the new load, at first not unlike 

 a voluminous mass of coarse lint, becomes a 

 compact layer uniform with the one before it. 



The mother meanwhile does not abdicate 

 her rights: I find her from time to time at 

 the bottom of the basin. Perhaps she comes 

 to see how the work is going on. Her touch, 

 which is better-suited for the delicate part of 

 the rearing, will more readily discover the 

 mistakes that need correcting. Very hkely 

 308 



